Petitions challenge district mapping

Committee wants to end practice of leaders choosing their voters

12:05 AM,
Nov. 29, 2009

Leon County Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho and elections-information specialist Rebecca Wood work on validation of voter signatures on petitions for constitutional amendments Nov. 23, 2009. The blue ones are for Congress, the white ones for the state Legislature, setting criteria for drawing political boundaries without regard to partisan advantage or incumbent protection.

Written by

Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital Bureau

Some county elections supervisors are being swamped with voter petitions for twin constitutional amendments that would fundamentally change Florida politics.

Besides a ballot deadline barely 60 days away, with two holiday breaks in between, the pressure is raised by a new law requiring voting offices to validate or reject petitions within 30 days. Previously, they could run the names during comparatively slow periods, but now some supervisors are adding temporary staff to cope with a late surge that's expected to grow.